In the course of cutting or printing operations, a continuous stream of flat, flexible objects is commonly conveyed to a collation area and, for example, further downstream to a tray from where they can be removed in batches. In the light of the relatively high conveyor speed of the cutting or printing equipment, the incoming stream of the individual objects must be slowed down significantly before these objects reach the tray in order to prevent them from being damaged in the transfer. The speed is commonly reduced by causing a partial overlap of the objects, which leads to the generation of a shingled stream. The generation of a shingled stream and, if needed, a growing overlap of the individual objects in the conveyance of the shingled stream reduces the speed of the individual objects at the end of the conveyor path. It is, for example, possible to reduce the speed by ratios of 5:1 to 8:1 even if the inflow velocity has exceeded 5 m/s, decreasing the kinetic energy of the objects for the transfer to the tray and therefore the force of the impact when entering the collation area.
Methods and devices for the generation and/or the conveyance of a shingled stream are known for example from DE 41 39 888 A1, DE 199 45 114 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,396 B2, DE 10 2008 025 667 A1 or DE 27 25 547 A1.